Rendezvous

Jeff and I decided late in the week to join a gathering of 14ers.com members to hike Mount Massive via the Southwest Slopes route. Driving from Denver, we missed the rendezvous in Leadville but met instead at the trailhead. There were seven of us: Jeff, Mike, Britt, Eric, Wes, Steve, and myself. And Cooper the Mountaineering Dog.

Good weather

Temperature at the trailhead was around 10F, 15 degrees warmer than expected. We started at dawn. Below timberline, the trail meanders through the forest. Here there was a thin layer of sugary powder; while some folks left their snowshoes in their vehicles, I brought mine but hardly needed them. As we emerged from treeline, the morning sun offered incredible views of the surrounding peaks.

unknown rock at moonset

another view

looking towards the southwest slopes route

emerging from timberline

Beautiful day

At this point the trail steepens considerably (although we opted to climb more steeply where there was snow cover)--our route gained 3,200' in 1.5 miles. Most of our ascent we bathed in sunshine and gorged on the stunning alpine vistas. Wind was minimal. The snow higher up was reasonably well-consolidated and this we navigated easily.

incredible views

taking a rest

nice day for a hike!

Mount Elbert

alpine panorama

tackling some loose rock

more views

South Massive

The summit

I had not researched this route beforehand, so around 11:30 I was pleasantly surprised to reach a nice class-2/3 ridge leading to the summit. An hour later the whole group, including Cooper the Mountaineering Dog, stood jubilantly on the peak. Here the winds picked up and the skies began to gray. We took some photos and started back down.

the summit ridge

the summit is the far left hump in this photo

obstacle

a view east from the ridge

looking back on the ridge

Jeff celebrating.. or threatening?

the party nears the summit

(L-R) Britt, Mike, Jeff, Wes, Eric (standing), Steve

Rapid descent

There were many steep, well-packed snowfields which offered excellent glissading opportunities, and this was the primary means of descent for most of the group. A few hours later all of us had arrived back at the trailhead.